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Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Atlanta Nosh at Atlantic Station

The Underground MarketAtlanta Nosh launched this weekend in its new legit incarnation at Atlantic Station. It was a perfect, albeit hot, day for some gluttony! The Mr. and I are on a healthy eating plan right now, and we saved up all of our splurging for Sunday, and man oh man was it worth it.

A hundred vendors dished up everything from dark chocolate and port cupcakes to Trinidadian pholouri. What I especially loved about the event was the passion that was on display. These aren't big businesses, or even local restaurants, these are big dreaming, hard working food entrepreneurs. And I, for one, love the idea of supporting local food talent.

Dark chocolate and port cupcake at Iced

Since many of the vendors are beginners, you can see that some have a lot to learn. Fortunately now that Atlanta Nosh is happening weekly, they will have a chance to learn on the job, and I imagine that the people who ran out of popular treats early or got passed over for a lack of signage will learn quickly.

I have an occasional Food Entrepreneurs column, I look forward to profiling some of these budding businesses on my site in the coming months. In the meantime, some highlights:

Mac Shack - Urban Daddy recently covered this mac 'n cheese delivery service. I tried a sample, and it was coco-nuts how good it was.

Max 'n Cheese at the Mac Shack

Nellie's Iron Pot- one very beautiful girl helping her mother fulfill a lifelong dream by dishing up unique Trinidadian eats...what's not to like? I have never had this type of food before, but it is clearly influenced by Indian. The pholourie have an appealing chewy but fluffy texture and a flavorful chutney.

Original Yay Yay - Ever since Huey's in Buckhead closed, Atlanta has had a deficit of delicious New Orleans style beignets. This vendor dished out these sweet powdered sugar covered delights filled with savory Nawlins fillings, like crawfish or shrimp. I wasn't a huge fan of the crawfish, but the shrimp was delish. It's big, though, so if you're looking to sample lots of vendors, plan on sharing.

Shrimp Beignet at the Original Yay Yay

Gourmet Pretzel Company - In a sea of newbies, this mother daughter combo, Lucretia and Sydney, stood out for their lovely merchandising. Delectable looking chocolate/caramel/nut covered pretzels beckoned. It's all I can do not to gobble them all up stat. At the event she sells them individually, but normally they'd come in packages of 12.

This is just a smattering of the vendors we enjoyed. We have yet to even open some of the goodies like jams and nuts that we brought home. This event will be back next week and every Sunday thereafter from 12-3. If you went to a previous Underground Market and found it too crowded, take comfort in knowing there's plenty of space and sunshine to go around, and I never had to wait in much of a line to try anything. Throw free parking under 2 hours in to the mix, and this is the perfect way to while away a Sunday afternoon and help someone live the dream!

Full disclosure: Although the PR team at Atlantic Station was kind enough to hook us up with free tastes from a number of tables, I always endeavor to give you my honest opinion.